Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

[Jesuscares]

I own a Carvin AE 185.It is a semi acoustic with 2 humbuckers & a piezo,has switches to change between single coil/double coil,phase in/ out siwtch etc I really liked the sound of pearly gates so I got one & got the bridge pickup swaped to the Pearly.Since the Carvin circuitry is a bit complex,the luthier took some time to figure it out & get it installed.When I brought the guitar home,after the swap it seemed to be fine until I touched the new pup.There was a crackling noise which did not stopped until I unplugged.I found that when the string of the guitar touches the screws on the pickup,it set out a series of crackilng noises.The noise eventually stops at times but sometimes it goes on & on until I unplug & replug.I tried lubricating the pup switch from the top of the guitar & I thought it helped but it betrayed me at a concert last night!
The luthier just can't figure out whats going on.Can someone tell me what I should do.The crackling sound comes only when the switch is on the pearly side, & not on the original Carvin pup.Is something wrong with the Pearly gates I got? Has anyone had such problems before?

 

[Martian]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

I own a Carvin AE 185.It is a semi acoustic with 2 humbuckers & a piezo,has switches to change between single coil/double coil,phase in/ out siwtch etc I really liked the sound of pearly gates so I got one & got the bridge pickup swaped to the Pearly.Since the Carvin circuitry is a bit complex,the luthier took some time to figure it out & get it installed.When I brought the guitar home,after the swap it seemed to be fine until I touched the new pup.There was a crackling noise which did not stopped until I unplugged.I found that when the string of the guitar touches the screws on the pickup,it set out a series of crackilng noises.The noise eventually stops at times but sometimes it goes on & on until I unplug & replug.I tried lubricating the pup switch from the top of the guitar & I thought it helped but it betrayed me at a concert last night!
The luthier just can't figure out whats going on.Can someone tell me what I should do.The crackling sound comes only when the switch is on the pearly side, & not on the original Carvin pup.Is something wrong with the Pearly gates I got? Has anyone had such problems before?

Actually, your statement, "...the luthier took some time to figure it out & get it installed..." is what caught my attention. There is nothing complicated about unwiring a Carvin HB and replacing it with a Duncan one, regardless of the overall complexity of a guitar's circuitry. Clearly, he wired it incorrectly. I also doubt very strongly that it is a bad pickup. Bring your guitar to a different but this time, competent tech.

 

[Jesuscares]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Thanks.I have not ruled out the fact that he could be incompetent.Since he works in a guitar center store I thought I could trust him although I would not go in for the same guy the next time I had to fix anything.That being said,I would like to know if it is natural for those noises to show up when a string or metal object like a screw driver touches the screws of the pup.Also the volume of the new pearly gates seems to be a lot lower than the original carvin humbucker.The older pup is atleast 25% louder than the pearly.Is the pearly a loud pup in general?
I've spent a lot of $$$$ getting this installed & if I can get this done without paying an extra buck,finding a different tech,it would be great.If not I have no other choice!

 

[Martian]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Thanks.I have not ruled out the fact that he could be incompetent.Since he works in a guitar center store I thought I could trust him although I would not go in for the same guy the next time I had to fix anything.That being said,I would like to know if it is natural for those noises to show up when a string or metal object like a screw driver touches the screws of the pup.Also the volume of the new pearly gates seems to be a lot lower than the original carvin humbucker.The older pup is atleast 25% louder than the pearly.Is the pearly a loud pup in general?
I've spent a lot of $$$$ getting this installed & if I can get this done without paying an extra buck,finding a different tech,it would be great.If not I have no other choice!

No, it is far from natural.

The Pearly Gates is a moderate output pickup and may be normally weaker than the Carvin as they have some brutish output humbuckers.

Unfortunately, 'competent' techs and GC aren't known to go together.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

I would like to know if it is natural for those noises to show up when a string or metal object like a screw driver touches the screws of the pup.

Your PG may or may not be correctly installed. But if I touch the polepiece or polepiece screws of any pickup with a screwdriver or metal object or string I always hear a loud click. So don't do that.

Also the volume of the new pearly gates seems to be a lot lower than the original carvin humbucker.The older pup is atleast 25% louder than the pearly.Is the pearly a loud pup in general?
I've spent a lot of $$$$ getting this installed & if I can get this done without paying an extra buck,finding a different tech,it would be great.If not I have no other choice!

The PG is a vintage output pickup - not an overwound hot pickup.

 

[Jesuscares]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

I am replying to continue this thread as I've still haven't found a reason for the sudden crackling noise that comes up sometimes when the string touches the pups.The noise stops after I unplug & replug the guitar.Any technicians here who could tell me what's going on?

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Magnetic and piezo pickups PLUS battery powered pre-amp circuitry PLUS knuckle draggin' GC "technician" = trouble.

I suspect that one of the connections for the Duncan pickup is shorting onto some part of the piezo pre-amp circuitry. Take out the PP3. See whether the problem persists.

 

[lowenzz]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Actually, your statement, "...the luthier took some time to figure it out & get it installed..." is what caught my attention. There is nothing complicated about unwiring a Carvin HB and replacing it with a Duncan one, regardless of the overall complexity of a guitar's circuitry. Clearly, he wired it incorrectly. I also doubt very strongly that it is a bad pickup. Bring your guitar to a different but this time, competent tech.

Well I wouldn't go there, out of 5 SD humbuckers I've gotten in the last year, 2 were defective. It does happen and to me at least, more often than you would think.

 

[Jesuscares]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Well Funkfingers
The crackling noise comes only when the string touches the SD pup & not the neck pup which is the original carvin.
The luthier who fixed it now says it could be a blown diode or something like that.

 

[Bravohalo]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Replacing a passive magnetic pickup is the easiest thing you can possibly do, regardless of whatever else is in the guitar. Looking inside you can find the hot, the ground, and the split if there is one; these connections do not change. It sounds like the GC tech overthought the whole process, and was probably screwing with stuff he didn't need to touch. Crackling almost always means a bad connection somewhere, and the string touching thing implies a grounding issue.

The luthier who fixed it now says it could be a blown diode or something like that.

Pretty unlikely. Is this the GC tech who installed the pickup? The only way to do something like that would be to reroute power connections on the preamp that have nothing to do with the job at hand (see above). I would recommend asking people you know for references on a good tech, and having him look over the entire system in the guitar. There's no telling what the GC guy did if he actually studied how to properly break your guitar. Unfortunately, the whole thing is suspect now. Fortunately, it's probably just a bad soldering job, and probably on a ground.

Hope this helps.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Trouble with pearly gates -pls help

Well Funkfingers
The crackling noise comes only when the string touches the SD pup & not the neck pup which is the original carvin.

I am suggesting that a connection on the SD pickup is touching something within the OEM Carvin circuitry that it should not. The remedy could be something as simple as applying insulation tape or heat shrink tubing.

The luthier who fixed it now says it could be a blown diode or something like that.

And WHO blew the diode? :scratchch Looks to me as if your GC luthier is shifting his/her ground. [CUE MUSIC: Frank Zappa - "Flakes"]

Replacing a passive magnetic pickup is the easiest thing you can possibly do. Crackling almost always means a bad connection somewhere, and the string touching thing implies a grounding issue.

Fortunately, it's probably just a bad soldering job and probably on a ground.

+1

The normal practice is to make a drawing of whatever is in the instrument circuitry before detaching anything. The hot, tap and ground conductors for the new pickup go to exactly the same places as they did for the OEM pickup. Apart from colour code confusion, there is nothing that can go wrongly.

My best guess is a dry solder joint where the Hot conductor of the Duncan HB first meets the Carvin circuitry. If your selector switch is a three-way toggle set into a circular cavity, check that the switch contacts are not fouling the sides of the cavity or any screening materials in that area.